8 JULY 1848, Page 7

_foreign anb FRANCIL—The Moderate party in the Assembly asserts an

increasing influence over the Government. A meeting was held last week in the Rue de Poictiers; at which it was resolved to require of any Government that should court such support, these measures-1. The rigorous die' banding and disarming of those National Guards who refused to co6perate, in resisting the recent insurrection; 2. The maintenance of a garrison im Paris strong enough to resist such attempts as those of May and June; 3, The immediate dissolution of the ateliers nationaux; 4. The temporary clewing of the clubs; 5. The provisional maintenance of restrictions on the press. A committee of seven were named, who put themselves immediately in communication with General Cavaignao, and came to an understanding with him on each of these points. It was held that the General swerved slightly from this understanding when he nominated Carnot and Leblanc to seats in the Ministry; and it is said that the retirement of M. Carnet was arranged in deference to representations made by the Rue de Poictiers party to M. Senard.

On the 29th June, General Cavaignac annominad to the Assembly, that Admiral Leblanc had declined the Ministry of Marine: he therefore transferred M. Bastide to that department, and nominated General Bddeau to succeed M. Bastide in the Foreign Ministry.

On Wednesday, the question of M. Carnot's remaining a member of the Ministry was brought to a crisis. The subject before the Assembly was a grant to schoolmasters; and a motion was made to reduce the proposed amount. M. Carnot defended his administration under the Provisional and Executive Governments: he had not advocated ignorance in legislators, but had still desired to see more members from the rural, and fewer from the civic populations, than he had seen. Violent altercations and a tumultuous scene arose, and lasted for some time. Ultimately the vote was reduced by a vote of 314 to 303. It is reported that M. Carnet resigned, and was immediately succeeded by M. Voulabelle.

The Assembly elected a new President, in place of M. Smartt The votes were — M. Marie, 414; M. Dufaure, 297; M. Lacrosse, 61. The number required was 396; so M. Marie was declared duly elected for the ensuing month. It was M. Marie who so boldly and ably defended the law against attroupemeus, on succeeding to M. Cremieux as Minister Of Justice.

The Representatives met on Saturday in their bureaux, to arrange their monthly organization. As it is to the Bureaux thus organized that the constitutioa, and several organic measures, will be referred, the proceedings were important. The nomination of Presidents gave rise to very sharp contests. The greater number of the chief members of the meeting of the Rue de Poictiers were elected; particularly Messieurs Thiers, Berryer, Dufaure, Vivien, Dupin, Billault, de Tracy, and J. da Beaumont. Only one member of the late Executive Commission was named a President, namely, M. Francois Arago.

As soon as the Bureaux were organized, they each entered on discussion of the project of the Constitution. The ensemble of the project was first taken—the "Declaration of Rights and Duties" comprised in the fink two iirtioles, which are as follows.

"Art. 1. The duties of man in society are thus summed up—Respect to the constitution, obedience to the laws, defence of the country, the accomplishment of family duties, and the fraternal practice of the maxim 'Do not unto others as you would not they should do unto you: as you would they should do unto you, do you to them likewise."

"Art. 2. The constitution guarantees to all citizens—liberty, equality, safety, instruction, labour, property, relief."

The exposition given in the succeeding articles of the seven categories in the second article suggested a variety of criticisms. In the third Bureau, over which M. Thiers presides, M. David warmly opposed any preamble at all, as unnecessary, or even dangerous. M. Thiers delivered a speech which has created some sensation in the Assembly, and was to this effect‹—•

In principle he was much attached to what was simple and positive: he had therefore little taste for the vague and general declarations, always somewhat declamatory, by which the majority of French constitutions were preceded. The example of their ancient Revolutionary assemblies affected him but slightly. Those assemblies had been conspicuous for patriotism and talent, but far less for political experience. Their new Republic, of which he desired the peaceful establishment, ought not, if it wished to succeed, to endeavour to imitate the first Republic attempted in 1792, but, on thecontrary, to seek to distinguish itself from its predecessor by the simplicity of its language, the wisdom of its conduct, and, in short, by its good sense. But, added Id. Thiers, "as this declaration of rights and duties—which, for my own parttI should not have placed at the head of our constitution—is found there, more inconvenience might be experienced than advantage gained by removing it; and we ought to employ our efforts and our cares in altering the really defective parts of this constitution, and to pass over such points as merely offend minds difficult to please. I therefore admit the principle of a declaration of duties and rights; and I examine it under one single point of view—the utility or the danger of the rights enunciated in this declaration. I consider, for example, that it is of the greatest utility, in the midst of' the subversive ideas now diffused abroad, to proclaim at the head of our constitution the twofold principle of property. and family. But it has been thought impossible to avoid adding two ether pnnciples—the right of man to receive assistance, and his right to labour. I am of opinion that everything must be done for the people that

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it s possible to do, without omitting or neglecting any available means; but I am also of opinion that it is inexpedient to promise more than can be performed. To promise what is impossible, is to deceive the people, and to expose them to deceptions which they will afterwards revenge with their muskets. I see no great danger in proclaiming the right to receive assistance; for with well-extended and more widely developed establishments of beneficence—better endowed than those existing—this promise may to a certain extent be fulfilled. Besides, a society honours itself by entering into an absolute engagement to succour old age, disease, and all the infirmities which render labour impossible to man. But to proclaim the right of man to labour—is not this entering into an absolute engagement to furnish.work to those who are unemployed, at all times and on all occasions? It this engagement can be fulfilled, I do not oppose it; but who here will venture to affirm the possibility? I have reflected much on what is now called the organization of labour, (a newly-invented word fora thing by no means novel,) and I have deplored the imprudence with which questions were raised utterly incapable of solution. We must have a solemn, profound, and frank discussion on this subject in the National Assembly, with all the leaders of parties, paying every dna respect to men and to opinions: for we must needs know if any one possesses the secret of suppressing at will all the miseries of the people. If any one do possess it, he must divulge it; and if nobody possess it, let no one promise it, for to promise in such a case is to pave the way for the effusion of human blood. The horrible scenes of the last few days prove my position. Bat, pending these solemn discussions, ws may here ask ourselves if any one has at hand the means of insuring work to ths operatives at all times. No doubt, a skilful Government may, by legislation, by its system of taxation, contribute to promote productiveness and to augment labour; bull would ask, whether in the richest and most industrious countries, in the former especially, it is possible to prevent those industrial crises which arm' e from a superabundance of production and are followed by a long period of stagnation? Can work always be insured to the operatives on these too frequent occasions? Is not the promise to do so entering into an engagement beforehand to renew the recent and disastrous experiment of the national workshops? The draining of marshes is talked of; we hear of agricultural colonies, which might in moments of crisis furnish work to unemployed hands. But this is a sad resource that is offered to the idle operatives; for you can hardly niake an offer to an operative weaver or an operative mechanic to go to the extremity of a strange province to plough the soil. The removal, the feebleness of their arms, their inexperience in tilling the ground, would render such a resource little less cruel than distress itself. At the same time,! roust admit that, for my own part, I do not renounce the privilege of proposing means which would, to a certain extent, satisfy the double necessity ot employing the hands reduced to inactivity in periods of industrial crises, and furnishing them with varied labours, adapted to the profession of each. Without turning either manufacturer or agriculturist, it is certain that the State is in want of linen, of cloth, of shoes, and of arms for the troops. It has to construct fortress-walls artillery-carriages, and steam-engines. Now, by creating establishments conducted on the principle of working little in times of industrial prosperity and much in times of distress, it would not be impossible to provide for periods of stagnation. I have deeply reflected and laboured hard to develop a system which would tend to reserve the labours with which the State is naturally and necessarily charged for periods of industrial inactivity; but this system, which would require a corresponding one of finance, would be difficult to establish, and very costly. The State, as usual, would execute well, but very dearly. Nevertheless, I am in favour of making some experiments of the kind; for it would be well thus to reserve the works of the State' to offer them to the operatives when deprived of the resources of private industry. But although I do not despair of the possibility of such a combination, can we on the strength of a dubious success venture to proclaim the right to labour? Must not a form of expression be found which, whilst implying the good-will of the Government to procure work for the unemployed labourers, would not, at all events, impose an engagement incapable of fulfilment ? No doubt, earth-work may be offered to them, as recently; but either they work, and it is then a hard resource for those who have never handled the pick-axe, or they do not work, and the State is duped by a system which holds out a dangerous encouragement to idleness. Something very different from this must be found, that is evident; and I have made an attempt to do so. I even believe that some useful results may be attained. At the same time, as nothing certain can be offered, I think that the good-will of the State must be promised, but no engagement entered into. To enter inconsiderately into

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an engagement, s an imprudence, a false principle—let us speak out—a falsehood flung in the face of the people."

In the Assembly, on Monday, General Cavaignac stated his views on the subject of the ateliers nationaux.

He considered that institution had been good in principle and in its creation, but had become dangerous in its development. He was of opinion that not more than 40,000 persons were among the combatants against order in the late contest. On the 23cl June, the number of national workmen wasbetween 105,000 and 106,000: a minority of these only could therefore have joined in the fight. Still, the organization was so formidable as to prevent all hesitation on the matter; and he announced that "the ateliers are dissolved, and the organization no longer exists." It would, however, be a first care of the Government to assist the workmen out of employ, till measures be adopted to put an end to the present state of things and bring back the workmen to habits of ordinary employment and industry. They would endeavour by their measures to reassure the public mind on the subject of national faith and national engagements, to encourage credit and labour.

The Minister of Finance announced his plans in the Assembly on Monday. They were, first, the adoption of the loan of 150,000,000 francs from the Bank, proposed by the late Executive; second, the repayment of yap,' -c-banks deposits in Rentes at the present prices; third, the redemption of a Treasury Bonds issued before the 24th February, at present prices; fourth, -a loan of 5,000,000 francs to the Builders Society; fifth, modifications of donatioS and succession rights. The plan of M. Duclerc is thus discarded in all its features, except the loan from the Bank.

On Saturday, M. Recurt, the Minister of Public Works' intimated to the Assembly, that the bill for the appropriation of the Railways by the Government was withdrawn, at the request of the Minister of Finance.

General Changarnier has been appointed Commander-in-chief, and General Perrot Staff-Major, of the National Guards of the Seine.

The Constitutimnel announces positively that the following military preparations are still in progress, to prevent in future an insurrection in Paris— "The third division of infantry of the Army of the Alps, under the command of General Magnan, is continuing its march to Paris; and the first brigade, under the orders of General Renault, is at present within a short distance of the capital. This division, composed of eleven battalions, is to be encamped at St. Maur, ready to act in the rear of the insurgents, should they again raise their heads. The troops in Paris are to be divided into seven brigades, and placed under the orders of as many Generals. There are, moreover, two Generals of Division to be appointed, one to command the right bank, and the other the left bank of the Seine. It is said that General Neumayer, who distinguished himself by his firmness during the disturbances in Lyons, is to receive a command. Those forces united will form a corps of 40,000 men, to be called the Army of Paris. This army is to be placed under the immediate command of the Minister of War, in order that the execution of the commands on which the safety of Paris and of all France may depend be faithfully accomplished."

General Boargon died on Friday, of a wound in the thigh received on the 25th June' as he mounted a barricade in the Faubourg Poissonniere. This is the fifth General lost to France by the late conflict.

The Moniteur mentions in a condemnatory tone the insinuations uttered at the tribune of the Assembly against "a neighbouring country "—England. It states that the English Ambassador, "feeling justly affected by these rumours," energetically protested against the possible application of the insinuations to Great Britain: whereupon M. Bastide, the Foreign Minister, addressed the following reply to Lord Normanby.

"The Minister for Foreign Affairs to his Excellency the British Arabassador.

"My Lord—My opinion and that of my Government is, that the Government of her Majesty the Queen is too honourable to have taken any part in exciting the fearful events of Paris. I see no inconvenience in your giving this declaration, as well as your note, all the publicity that you may consider expedient I will even see it with pleasure, the more as it will afford a new proof of the reciprocal sentiments ot good feeling which animate our two Governments.

"I have the honour to be, my Lord, your all devoted, " JULES BASITDE."

It is announced that M. Emmanuel Arago, Minister of France in Prussia, is about to return to Paris, en conge; but it appears certain that he Will not return to Berlin. It was reported positively in Paris, on Thursday, that bL de Lamartine is shoat to withdraw from political life' and again visit the East. A passport to England is said to have been refused to him, for the present.

bL Trelat, Ex-Minister of Public Works, has been appointed Mayor of the Twelfth Arrondissement.

The Moniteur has published official returns of the killed and wounded taken to the regular hospitals in Paris, from the 23d to the 28th June: the killed 162, and the wounded 1,619. In addition, 364 wounded _men were taken to temporary hospitals.

Among the prisoners lately arrested, are M. Grandmesnil, the former editor of the Relornze, the organ of M M. Ledru-Rollin and Flocon• M. Theophile There, the editor of the Frac Riubli.clue; M. Bennier, a painter, who is an intimate friend of the notorious M. Sobner; L'Heritier, an old political convict and member, of several secret societies; Barrel, Sub-Director of the Ateliers Nationanx and Captain of the Eleventh Legion; Cavallon, chief of the Club Democratique; Guerinean, Vice-President of the Club de la Montague.

The Droit announces the arrest of Count de Fouchicourt, and his son, twenty_ one years of age, who commanded a barricade in the Rue Saint Louis du Marais, during the 23d and 24th of June. Having been remarked and recognized in the battle by M. Lambert, the Count was arrested on Sunday afternoon. " It is true that! fought," said he, " but I fought in the name of order; for order, in my opinion, cannot be established in France without the reestablishment of Legitimate Royalty." It is added, that Count Fouchicourt planted a white flag on the barricade of which be assumed the comieand.

On the 24th, the prisoner Barbee and others, who were at Vincennes, were removed to Ham.

On Sunday morning 1,060 prisoners were conveyed from the Prefecture to the fort of Ivry. During the night, the prisoners, with the aid of nails which they found in the casemates, made a hole through the wall, and were opening a sub. terranean passage, when the scheme was discovered and defeated. The 200 prisoners detained in the barrack of Tounion had also made an unsuccessful attempt to escape. They dug a hole in the ground, and had penetrated into quarries; • which, however, had no issue.

A Paris journal supplies a detailed narrative of the assassination of General Brea and his aide-de-camp. " On arriving at the head of the attacking column before the barricade at the Barriere Fontainebleau, only flags were seen on the barricade, with now and then some heads, which were raised to look at the column. Complete silence prevailed for some time on both sides; the column having halted and got its battering-pieces ready. At length four men advanced from the barricade to General Brea' protesting their devotedness to the Republic' their sympathy for the soldiers, their horror of war, and their desire that their brethren of the Line should fraternize with them on the barricade. General Brea went with them, thinking that he could persuade the men to lay aside their arms. He spoke to them, shook hands with some of them across the barricade, and cried with them, Vice la Republique Democratique et Sociale !' The insurgents invited him to come to the inside of the barricade, to address their companions; and he did so. Captain Mangin, his aide-de-camp, a chef de bataillon of the Line, and M. Dupont, chef de bataillon of the National Guard, went in with him. M. de Ludre, a Representative of the People, and Colonel Thomas, of the Mobile, who went with them to the barricade, refused to go in. No sooner had the General and the three officers entered within the barricade, which they did by the side passage, than 2,000 men rose, and, presenting their muskets at Colonel Thomas and M.sle_Ludre, threatened to shoot them (the General and the officers) immediately if they 'did not make the Column lay down its arms, Colonel Thomas talked with the men, and kept them engaged for two honrii_; daring' all which time the muskets were levelled at him. During these two hours, he received five notes front the General, stating that the insurgents threatened to kill him if the troops did not immediately yield. At length the Colonel and the Representative obtained permission to make known to the troops the conditions laid down by the insurgents, and they caused General Cavaignac to be informed of the position of things. General Cavaignac replied, nobly and sadly, that the safety of the country must be thought of before that of individuals; and he gave orders to attack the barricade. Colonel Thomas thereupon marched resolutely to the assault. He sent two discharges of grape-shot at the insurgents, and made the Mobiles scale the barricade: meanwhile, the troops cut through the wall, and charged the insurgents in the rear. The latter were pitilessly shot, and the position was gained. On entering the guard-house near the barricade, the assailants found two bodies; one was recognized as that of General Brea; the other was so horribly disfigured that it could not be known, tho h it subsequently turned out to be that of the aide-de-camp. The two other rs who had entered the barricade had contrived to escape, one by secreting himself under a shed, the other under a bed. The General and Captain Mangin were, it appears, shamefully ill-treated; their epaulettes having been dragged off, their clothes torn, and they themselves struck. Then a musket was presented at the General; but a woman threw herself in his arms to protect him. A man, however, dragged her away, then retired a few steps, and shot the General in the abdomen. At the same time, another man discharged his musket at the forehead of Captain Mangin; and whilst the poor officer covered his face with his hands, uttering cries of pain, a third insurgent struck him down hem behind with a hatchet His nose and ears were then cut off, and his head was mutilated in such a horrible manner as to make it impossible to recognize that it was human. Whilst these abominable executions were taking place, a man dragged the chef de bataillon from under the bed, and, taking off his clothes, gave his blouse and enabled him to escape. As to the officer of the National Guard, it has not yet been ascertained what has become of him."

When General Lamoriciere commanded that the firing should cease in the Place St. Antoine, on Sunday afternoon, in order that he might summon the insurgents to surrender, the latter, as it appeared, believed that the army wished to capitulate. They then held a council Behind the barricade of the Rue de Is Roquette; where their conversation was heard by some prisoners whom they had confined in their houses. The first condition which they determined to propose was that a sum of 30,000,000 francs (1,200,0001.) should be paid down, to be divided amongst the Democratic combatants. That was the chief point. They next demanded the head of General Cavaignac; and that Barbes and the other prisoners, detained in consequence of the attack on the National Assembly on the 15th of May, should be liberated. They subsequently offered to surrender on a full and entire amnesty being secured to them. General Cavaignac however, refused to accept any terms but an unconditional submission.—Journia des Dibats.

SPAIN.—Civil war has recommenced in Spain. A Montemolinist insurrection, headed by Cabrera, Elio, and Gomez' has broken out in the Northern provinces. Elio had entered Navarre in the end of June; and was then at the head of a body of well-armed men, some hundreds strong. Cabrera has since joined him and published a proclamation, in which he says " An avaricious, false, and corrupt prince, taking advantage of our divisions, in concert with a degraded princess, made an object of speculation of the Catholic throne of the Alfonsos and the Ferdinands. A matrimonial combination was schemed in the darkness of night; and the consequence of this combination is, that the crown that surpasses in splendour every crown in the world may piss from the brow of women, who wear it without right, to that of a stranger, without consideration, value, or title. France, already ashamed of having at her head the author of so vile a plot, has expelled him from her soil; while we Spaniards, looked upon as a pectin so proud, keep amongst us at the summit of power the author of this plot, and all her accomplices, more than ever ready to profit by the fruit of their vile bargain."

Ile calls Spaniards to the flag of Carlos Luis de Bourbon, and invites them to join him in the same vallies and fields that witnessed his and their former exploits. The Infanta Donna Josefa Fernanda, the sister of the King-consort, has been deprived of all honours and decorations, for an unequal marriage—in defiance of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1776—with D. Jose Guell y Rente. Madrid was relieved from a state of siege on the 27th.

IreLv.—The Risorgimento of July 1st states that an envoy had arrived from Radetsky at Vallegio, Charles Albert's head-quarters, with proposals of peace. It is reported in Paris that these proposals were rejected; and that Charles Albert has crossed the Adige, and is now investing Verona. It is also stated that the King has invited General Bugeaud to take the chief command of the Italian army; and that the General has laid the offer before the French Government, asking their consent to his acceptance of it.

Palma Nuova surrendered to the Austrians on the 25th of June; at once giving them a large park of artillery and a great store of war material, setting quite free the communications of all the Austrian divisions with each other, and opening an easy route to Vienna and Inspruck.

A Milan journal gives the following as the numbers and distribution of the Austrian force at present in Venetian Lombardy 1. Brigade under Colonel Milsat, 4,000 men, stationed at Belluno and Pieve di Cadore; 2. Brigade under General Lichtenstein, 4,000 men, at Bimadello and Conegliano; 3. Brigade under General Mili, 4,000 men, at Pordenone; 4. Brigade under Colonel Suzzon, at Udine 3,000 men; 5. Brigade under Colonel zeraen, at Palma 3,000 men. A detachment of 1,500 men under Colonel With, at hfonfalcono. Regiment of Nugent, 2,000 men. Total 21,500. Artillery-18 field-pieces, 4 mortars. The Ventidue Afarzo of Milan, of the 26th June, publishes several decrees of the Provisional Government of Lombardy, calling under arms the three classes of 1823, 1824, and 1825, and ordering the formation of a body of reserve.

The Chamber of Deputies of Turin, in its sitting of the 28th, voted by a majority of 127 to 7 in favour of the law on the annexation of Lombardy to Piedmont.

The Grand Duke of Tuscany opened his Parliament on the 26th. His speech indicates hearty adhesion to the national cause. Inter ails, he said " The political changes which have occurred in France have not in the least interrupted our friendly relations with that country. Closer ties unite us to the other Governments of Italy. We have received the Sicilian deputies like brothers of the great Italian family; and we trust that Sicily will be able to organize herself in the manner most conducive to her welfare and our common interest."

The news from Naples is to the 28th. The provinces are in full revolt, but do not obtain advantages over the troops sent against them. Deputies enough for a new Parliament have been elected, and will assemble immediately. Not one Minister has been elected; and most of the old members are realected. Marquis Drag-onetti openly threatens to impeach Ministers for the late dissolution.

A revolt of the galley-slaves at Procida took place on the 25th, and was not put down till great numbers had been killed. Artillery was used against the prison.

Gyamaxy.—The German Assembly at Frankfort, on the 28th June, after a week's debate, adopted these resolutions in regard to the Central Executive— ,

The Provisional Central Power AO be committed to a Lieutenant-General of the Empire, to be elected by the National Assembly. The Lieutenant-General of the Empire shall exert his power by means of ministers appointed by him, and responsible to the National Assembly; ancV" all rescripts Oahe Lieutenant-General, to make them valid, shall be countersig' lied by at least one responsible Minister. The Lieutenant-General of the Empire is himself irresponsible. (Ayes, 373; noes, 175.) On the Provisional Central Power commencing its operations: the existence of the Diet is at an end. (Ayes, 510; noes, 35.) The Provisional Central Power shall, in regard to executive measures, put itself in communication, as far as is feasible, with the plenipotentiaries of the respective Governments. As soon as the scheme of the constitution for Germany is completed and brought into operation, the agency of the Provisional Central Power ceases.

On the 29th, at the invitation of Baron Von Gagern the President, the Assembly proceeded to the election of a Lord-Lieutenant. In putting the vote, the President said—" I now proceed to put the matter to the vote, that the National Assembly may choose the Provisional Paramount Head of the Empire. Whoever he may be (he spoke in solemn emotion) let us resolve to support him in the discharge of his high and important office with all the zeal and all the powers we can command." The suffrages were as follows—

For Archduke John of Austria 136 For Heinrich von Gagern, the President 52 For John Adam von Itsstein 32 For Archduke Stephen, Viceroy of Hungary 1

The announcement of the result was received with great cheering from all parts of the house. When the excitement had subsided, Baron von Gagem formally consummated the ceremony with these words—

"1 proclaim, therefore, Archduke John of Austria Lieutenant-General of Germany. May he be the object of our devotion, the founder of our unity, the preserver of our freedom, and the restorer among us of order and of peace. Once raore let us cry long life to him." The walls of St. Paul's resounded with cheers, and the cannon thundered Without in unison with the pealing belfries.

INIlle.—Intelligence from Bombay has been received to the 20th of May. The Dewan Moulraj of Moult= is making great preparations for a struggle with the British power in that region. He has mustered 30,000 troops; and has occupied Mithemkote, on the Indus, with a force of 3,000, $o as to command the route by river from Bombay to his capital. Meanwhile, the monsoon has begun' and all attempts at marching are prevented on the part of the British till October. The authorities are collecting a great armament to ascend the Indus as soon as the season will permit. A Protective force has been sent to occupy Govindghur, the celebrated treasury fortress of the state of Lahore.

Wmar lwraas.—The Teviot West Indian steamer arrived at Southampton on Tuesday, with mails from St. Thomas's to the 14th June. The Jamaica news is to the 7th. Extraordinary rains had fallen in the last days of May, and caused inundations of extensive and destructive nature; the chief of them in S. Thomas's-in-the-East. A quarter of a mile of the Jamaica Railway embankment was washed away by the river Cobre, near the Hunt's Bay station. Many lives and a vast quantity of stock have been lost. The Jamaica Times publishes, from a correspondentint uBlue Mountains Valley, this description of a mountain river after the • On the 2341 May " Those who are acquainted with it, and who remember the storm of 1815, will recollect the accident by which the works of Benlomond Plantation were destroyed by Morgan's River, always a formidable one after even a slight rain, but which taking its rise directly from the East peak of the Blue Mountains, and draining the waters of large tracts of woodland, sends down when in flood a body of water unequalled in rapidity and volume. A large slip having taken place close to the works referred to, an immense mass of rocks, trees, and stones, fell into the bed of the river, and for a short time checked its course. A abort time was sufficient; for the accumulating water, rising high out of its channel, dashed headlong down upon the works, and swept bare the rock on which they stood, although a long way above the natural level of the river: of the costly buildings not a fragment now remains save a single solitary pillar, which the substantial masonry of old times had deeply imbedded in the rock itself, piercing through the deep coating of soil which once covered it, and which had been thought a sufficiently secura foundation for the other buildings. A similar occurrence, but which fortunately was not attended with the same disastrous results, took place on Thursday last, -further down the same river, about half way between Newfield plantation and the abandoned one of Shirley Castle. So far as I can gather from the story of some men who were in the house on the latter place—the works of which were carried away at the same time as those of Benlomond—a slip seems to have fallen into, and choked up, as on the former occasion, but I presume for a longer period, the entire channel. Their astonishment may be imagined, when the torrent, which had been rushing furiously downwards, suddenly ceased, and remained for some minutes almost entirely dry. They could only conjecture the cause, and continued for a little in a most unenviable state of terror and suspense. At length, the breaking up of the mass was announced by an appalling rending and crushing noise; and the ground shook as from the shock of an earthquake, while the window-glass absolutely rattled, as the whole mass of huge trees, rocks, and earth, moved like a wall down the river-course past the house. Its solidity prevented its advancing rapidly; and the very slowness and stateliness of its progress must have made it appear the more dreadful. As the ravine opened, the mass spread, and filled the whole breadth from bank to bank; sweeping before it every vestige of the road."